He Met Me!

If I had to name two of my biggest pet peeves about Christians, I would say carrying your Bible to church in the box it came in and over-spiritualizing lame experiences. That said, I think I'm about to do the second. I am finding that God is just totally meeting me where I'm at...even when I'm in that whole wallowing spot that accomplishes just about nothing for Him and adds nothing to His glory.

Last night I was bummed. I had just torn a link off of my paper chain and counted how many I had left. 40 days. I wrote a post about that, so, if you read it, you can see that I was just feeling really discouraged. I opened my Bible afterwards to do my quiet time and God just absolutely met me. I began recalling all of the things in the Bible that took forty days: Jesus' temptation, Moses going up on the mountain to be in God's presence and get the 10 commandments, Noah's time in the ark... Then God brought one to mind that I hadn't thought of before...Jesus' time here after his resurrection. I started thinking about it. Jesus died, went to be with his Father in heaven for 3 days, then CAME BACK here and stayed for 40 days. Can you even imagine? I mean, I want to go home...and that is a place filled with sin, hopelessness, sinful people (me included!), and uncertainty. I love it, but it is all of those things. Jesus' home was perfect in every sense of the word but he CAME BACK for 40 days.

I have to confess: I'm a bit of cynic. (Knew that already?! Sorry, I don't do much to hide it!) I have heard people say that Jesus has had any experience that I have ever had and that he can relate to me in every sense of my life. But, honestly, I had not really, personally encountered this to be true until last night.

To use a junior high youth retreat term, God has been "rocking my face off" this semester by teaching me to trust him and drawing me into a deeper and deeper relationship with him. I am more aware of his intimacy now than any other point in my life as a believer. Weird thing is, ever since about 5 days ago, I've been feeling a rift. I was trying to think if there was some kind of sin pattern that was unconfessed or unresolved relationship stuff or what when my memory verse from last month hit me: "Let us go right into the presence of God, with hearts fully trusting him..." That's it! I had quit trusting him, quit believing him for what he said he would do. My heart was divided. How could I expect to be in his presence?!

Well, those are just a few reflections for tonight. Let's just say 39 days seems a whole lot more do-able now and (as usual!) my "problems" are becoming more and more microscopic as I consider this God who holds the span of all of creation between his thumb and forefinger! Praise Him, for He is bigger than us and He has overcome the world!